European shares gain on bank recovery (Reuters) (18-03-2008)

PARIS, March 18 (Reuters) - European stocks weer gaining since early morning trade and accelerated these around midday on Tuesday, on hope that the U.S. Federal Reserve would substantially cut rates and the global credit crisis would ease as a result.

By 11:15 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 2.1 percent at 1,224.71 points.

The index sank 4.4 percent on Monday after the fire sale of struggling Wall Street firm Bear Stearns (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) raised concerns about valuations in the banking sector and sparked fresh concerns over the global credit crisis.

Leading the relly were banking stocks, with UBS up 11 percent, Credit Agricole up 7.1 percent and Deutsche Bank up 4.4 percent, while financial companies were also performing well; among them hedge fund manager Man Group rose by 4.6%, and inter-dealer broker Icap gained 3.9% after losing heavily in the previous session.

 Source: Reuters